Neglect

I was checking up on all of my favorite blogs this morning after my MJ post and I saw this post on The Women's Colony . It reminded me not to forget my man, Johnny Depp, my second ever love. He is also the longest lasting of my loves. Ever since 21 Jump Street this man has resided in my heart...

Oh Johnny...



Sweet, sweet, Johnny.

The First Man I Fell in Love With...

was Michael Jackson. I can't remember how old I was, but I was born in 1981 so I was young. But, boy oh boy, I was in love!



My dad took my sister and me to a MJ concert one year. I can't remember the concert at. all. but I remember sitting in the stadium waiting for everyone to clear out. You see, my sister, Binsky, had fallen asleep and Dad wanted to wait until everyone left so that it would be easier to carry her to the car.

As we were walking out a lady stopped to tell us something terribly sad. Michael Jackson had walked through the hall.

Right there, right where we were standing.

Michael Jackson had signed something for her.

Right there, right where we were standing.

Only we weren't standing there when it happened. We were sitting in our seats waiting because Binsky was asleep.

I was SO sad. Distraught, even. It really tore me up... I could have seen the man of my dreams and I missed him! IL was sad for a long time, until I became mad. I became mad because one day Binsky informed me that she was not, in fact, sleeping at the time. She had been pretending so that she could get carried to the car.

This is a punishable offense. Some one, quick, come up with a punishment.



So, I spent this morning scouring the web for pictures of Michael where he didn't look like he was missing chunks of his nose, or where his skin wasn't so white it was translucent. I tried to find pictures that flattered him, pictures that showed the best of him. It saddened me to see that it is getting so hard to find the good pictures of him anymore. What happened to him? It also made me laugh... I suppose that my very first celebrity crush, the very first man I fell in love with, had more to tell about my future than I ever really noticed.

I was engaged before I had Angel Boy and married El Vaquero. Yes, I was.



He was from Barbados. This makes him Bajan. This also makes him black. Yes, it does.

I also liked to kiss girls at bars. Yes, I did.

I even kissed the same girl numerous times. Yes, I did.



I guess I shouldn't be surprised.




Yesterday, after the news was released, and even this morning, I have a heavy heart. No matter what has become of Michael over the years, what he has or hasn't done, he was still the King of Pop. He changed the music and dance world forever. There is no way this world will ever be the same.

Today is a Really Big Day

Today is my mom's birthday. She wants us all to pretend that it isn't her birthday, though, because today is also my younger sister's graduation day. Snotface is graduating from high school and my eyes well up at just the mere mention of it. I can't even discuss it.

Stop it.

Get a grip, woman.

Whew, okay.

If I had a scanner, I would show you a time line of this girl's whole life, but I don't, so I won't... ummm, can't.

Here she is, May 2003. Snotface is 12 years old. Gosh, she is so little!



July 2003, at the beach with Mom and our Brother.



December, 2005, "The Sisters". I'm on the left, our other sister, Binsky, is on the right.


Where was my mother when this picture was being taken? Why wasn't she telling me to stand up straight?!

November, 2006, Snotface meets her nephew - Angel Boy.



June, 2007, Angel and Snotface doing their thing.


poor kid had terrible hair in his early days

August, 2008, Snotface meets her niece - Our Princess.



May, 2009, Snotface goes to the Prom. Second pic is her dad, my stepdad.





(Graduation post to follow, I hope - rain please hold off!!!)


It has been a long road, watching her get braces, and get her braces taken off. I've seen more soccer games than I can count - and there are more in our future. She is going away to college on a soccer scholarship!! YAY! I've watched her grow into a great, loving woman. She defends and supports her brother, takes care of those around her. She possesses both the best and worst qualities of us all and is unique in her own right, as well.

She has had trying times, too. In elementary school she was the victim of intense bullying. The girls didn't like her because she was good at soccer, because their boyfriends were friends with Snotface. It is hard for a girl to be friends with boys because eventually their girl friends get jealous. As is the case with most bullying cases, the school did nothing. It got so bad that our mom eventually had to pull Snotface out of school and put her into catholic school. Things drastically turned around for her and when it was time to go to high school, she rejoined the kids that she had grown up with.

This day is so bitter sweet for me. My kids adore her. She comes over every Sunday night with our mom to watch the kids while I work my one shift. I see her all the time, we talk all the time. Snotface has a great relationship with Angel Boy and it makes us all sad that Princess won't have that same relationship because Snotface won't be around as much for the next 6 (YES SIX) years. She is going to school to be an athletic trainer. Her college is still in state, less than an our away, but her soccer will be demanding, her time limited.

On the flip side, we are all just SO proud of her, so happy that she is dedicated to her schooling and that her hard work with soccer and all the time spent got her money for school. So proud of the woman she has become and continues to grow into.

Good luck, Snotface, congratulations and we love you!

A Boy After My Own Heart

When we go out to the park, Angel Boy really loves to have fun. We throw tons of rocks and make huge splashes. If this involves getting muddy, so be it.



He doesn't enjoy when his hands are dirty. He insists on rinsing his hands in the water every. single. time.



But seriously, every time we go to the park I hear the same thing. "Grandpa?" Okay fine, I'll call Grandpa. So then Grandpa is on board and we schedule a meeting and we are on our way. Not even out of the car yet, AB starts up again. "Grandpa!!! Throw rocks?!" Of course, Angel, we are going to throw rocks.



This is problematic, though. Left on his own, Angel can find plenty of well deserving rocks to throw, no issue. With Grandpa at his side he miraculously loses rock vision and needs Grandpa to find them all for him. And there are standards, people. Standards, I tell you. A Grandpa chosen rock must be large. The larger the better. The bigger splash, the better.



Grandpa does try to take pictures. He loves photography but Angel doesn't really tolerate that when it is time to throw rocks.



Eventually Grandpa will come around. He always does. He likes throwing rocks just as much, if not more than the boy.



So the story goes. Eventually I must remind the boys that I do have to wash the clothes Angel has covered in mud and that if he wants a little time on the playground, the rock stint is up. Reluctantly, he will oblige, but he will not go happily.



I leave you with this. Never allow your boys to throw rocks. Anywhere. You will never get your park time back again. I'm sorry. Don't say I didn't warn you.

This point will sink in and hit home as the months pass, you'll see. I promise.

And I also leave you with this. Spring is my favorite time of year, for sure. I love the new growth, the colors breaking the grey of winter. Fresh smells and warm sun...

*ATTENTION ATTENTION*

The ankle biters and I are headed out to Barnes & Noble but I just had a sudden urge to confess something. Please excuse me.

I want another baby.

There, I said it. And it is true. I would get pregnant if I could but I have a bunch of things working against me. First and foremost, I have yet to ovulate, and this is an amazing thing! (Sorry gentlemen). I have an IUD so that if I were to ovulate, there would be no inhabitants in this rental. Sorry. If I go to bed, I want to sleep. A woman can not conceive if all she wants to do is sleep. Lastly, I know that i don't REALLY want another baby right now, but something just comes over me right around when my babies become a little mobile, a little less dependent. I can feel my uterus twitch when I see pictures of babies or other pregnant women. I've got the fever, baby, and I've got it baaaaaad. Oh... and I forgot, El Vaquero is SO not into another baby. Maybe in another year we will start talking about it... if I make it that long ;) (truthfully, a year from right now is when I would like to get serious about making a baby... so I have 12 months to get my strapping husband on board.)

Go back to your regularly scheduled programming. Pretend you haven't witnessed my momentary lapse in judgment. And stay tuned... you will see more on this again.

Raisin' the Roof

When our Princess was born we were minorly worried. She was very, relaxed, for lack of a better word. Her arms just hung there most of the time, she held her body awkwardly - even for a baby, her eyes didn't focus on things and just seemed totally unresponsive. Gradually we started to notice small differences and eventually she really did come into her own.


The Princess - 4 months old

These days, her personality astounds me. She is always talking and clapping and blowing kisses. She follows Angel Boy around, crawling - but wishing to walk, wrestles with him and stands on her own with no issue.

The new baby hysteria has been officially replaced with "OH MY GOODNESS I ALMOST HAVE A TODDLER... A SECOND TODDLER" hysteria. While I am still so excited to have a walking, talking second child, I am definitely scared! My life is on the verge of getting wildly out of control... and I can't wait!

Bored

I found this really great project in my Cookie magazine over a year ago. They did a feature of this one particular lady's home and in her room she had polaroid pictures of her family hanging in the shape of a heart. I decided that this was a much cheaper fix for our lack of a head board than actually buying a headboard. El Vaquero is still unconvinced, his headboard/footboard quest still goes.

Anyway, I loved the idea and set out, over months, editing my pictures into little squares (3x3 I think) and cutting them out and eventually hanging them up. I LOVED it.


This was all done during my crazy nesting phase right before our Princess was born. Princess was born at home so I felt like I needed our room to be perfect.

And it was.

Now, I can't figure out a way to incorporate our little princess into it without removing perfect little pictures of the Angel Boy or expanding the heart so big that it loses it's charm. So this leaves me board. Head board and foot board :)

I need them.

But it did lend it's self to a great photoshoot with Angel Boy and editing done with the actions provided by P-Dub.



If nothing else at all, I am so happy to have these pictures. There is something about my big boy looking towards a heart made up all of special moments in his life, that just warms my heart. This picture in itself is special to me because it was just before I told him he was too big for diapers. We have been diaper free ever since, almost 3 months. Thank goodness, because 7 months with two in diapers was just too long.

TTFN,
(Ta Ta For Now)
TAM